Record-setting Chinshanlo wins 53kg class

Kazakhstan’s Zulfiya Chinshanlo set a world record in the clean and jerk as she powered to Olympic gold in the women’s -53kg class yesterday to claim a cash bonus from her country’s president. The two-time world champion, 19, snatched 95kg and then registered a best of 131kg in the clean and jerk for a combined total of 226kg. Asian champion Hsu Shu-Ching of Taiwan took silver with a total of 219kg (96, 123), on countback from Moldova’s Cristina Iovu, who took bronze with 219kg (99, 120). “I want to celebrate the gold medal by drinking a glass of beer. Actually, I am only able to drink half a glass,” said Chinshanlo, who was not too upset at just missing out on breaking the world record in the total with a narrow miss at 135kg in the clean and jerk. “On the last lift I had a plan to break the record but I failed. I am a bit disappointed.” Chinshanlo said that Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev had been in the stadium to watch her claim the central Asian country’s second gold medal in as many days following Alexandre Vinokourov’s win in the men’s cycling road race. “He came and said congratulations, but I won’t tell you how much money he will give me. I am afraid I will be robbed,” she said with a laugh. The Chinese team, looking to repeat their Beijing Games form, made a bad tactical blunder, Zhou Jun failing to register a mark in the snatch after opting to compete in the ‘B’ group. Zhou offered up a low 150kg entry total, having recorded 220kg in domestic competition. But after waiting for all her rivals to finish, Zhou failed three times to register a snatch at 95kg. “The basic move went totally wrong,” she said. “I don’t know what happened on the platform. I just couldn’t find how to relax in my body. My condition today was bad. “It was the coach’s decision,” Zhou added of her snatch entry weight, with only three lifters in the ‘A’ group having registered similar or higher. The clean and jerk was given some extra spice when Turkey’s Aylin Dasdelen, in the running for a medal after nailing 91kg in the snatch, failed to register a mark in the clean and jerk. Dasdelen, who finished fourth at the 2004 Olympics in Athens in the -58kg class, and a twice world silver medallist, bombed out after two failed attempts at 129kg. That left the baby-faced Chinshanlo to step forward to roars from the crowd that included London Games chief organiser Sebastian Coe. As the packed stadium at the ExCel arena slowly hushed, Chinshanlo paced the lifting dais, slowly approached the barbell and threw the weight up just metres away from Coe. “What an outstanding piece of sport,” beamed Coe. “What composure for a 19-year-old.” from gulf times